Automobile spring construction



March 24, 1953 v R. J. PRosKE 2,632,639

AUTUMOBILE SPRING CONSTRUCTION Filed May s. 1952 60 70 H/s ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 24, 1953 A11N-Iren STATES TENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE SPRING CONSTRUCTION RobertJ. Proske, St. Louis, Mo., assignorto Virginia Ruth Proske, St. Louis, Mo.

ApplicationMayl 1952, Serial No. 285,898

Y Generally, thepresent'inventionrelatesvto a fMore particularly, the'invention is directed to Ianimproved spring construction for .incorporaition! in `the chassis of `a standard automobile, without'requiring anychanges in the .present de- :vsign of'said chassis.

'The primary object of the vinvention isvto Aproviclez a novel 'spring construction which not only includes .the `normal inherent :shock-absorbing Jvcharacteristics of conventional spring assemblies, i but :which f provides ,additional resiliency substan- 4tially'centrallyofthe assembly.

Another .obj ect is -to 4provide c an improved assembly Lfwhich embodies `-a 4semi-elliptic leaf` rspring,anquarter-elliptic,leaf`gspring and a compression coil spring, rso :arranged and Ycomplefmentarily disposed jas--tofeffectivelyneutralize and absorb-road Shocks, 4and to Vprevent the transmisn sion'of themftothe-body ofthe vehicle to which the assembly is applied.

.,'Ajfurther object Vof the invention is to pro- Vide a resilient connection between the forward end of said semiS-ellipticspring `and a portion or v.said quarter-elliptic Springintermediate the forward and rear ends of the latterfsaid connection comprising hanger linkage including bushings of resilient |material such as rubber olneopi'eiie, as williappear.

Another object of the *invention is Ato provide 1an included semi-elliptic,leaf spring one half of ,whichis normallyhorizontally disposed, the other half being `of a generally quarter-elliptic contour.

A more comprehensive ,understanding of my invention maybe'hadfrom' the detailed description thereof to follow with reference to the accom- .panying fdrawing, .wherein 'the v invention l is illus- Figure 6 is also an enlarged ver-tical sectional r view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 2.

In Figures 1 through 3, the spring construction comprising the present invention is designated as a whole by the numeral lll. Included are an upper leaf spring generally designated i 547Claims. (Cl. 267-28) by numeral I2; alower leaf spring indicated Iii; linkage designated i6 for connecting the front end of the upper Spring witha portion ofthe lower spring adjacent the front -end of the lat ter; a coil compression spring assembly-generally designated I3; and related parts and ele-v ments as will appear hereinafter.

The upper leaf spring l2 is contoured as-shown, vand includes a normally horizontal section 20, an arcuate or quarterelliptic section 22,front eye 24, and arear eye 25.

The lower spring M is quarter-elliptic aS illustrated, and terminates at its front end in an eye 28. Said spring is further provided'with a Second eye 3G in vertical alignment with the eye 24 of the upper spring l2.

As seen to best advantage in Figure 5, the linkage ltincludes a yiirst link v32; a pair of laterally projecting pins 34 and 35 integraltherewith; a second link 35 provided with apertures i8 through which said'pins project; a'bushing 4D `of resilient material interposed in eye 24 about the `upper pinll; a similar bushing A2 interposed `in eyelllabout the lower pin 35;,and arpair of nuts-A3, one 4of which engages the threadedextremity of pin-34, the other` engaging the threaded extremityof pin-35.

The rear end section ,46 of spring i4 is disposed V'beneath a conventional axle `l'iousing A8, the latter being provided with integral lateral ilanges 55, apertured for the reception of the leg membersof a pair of U-bolts 52.

The assembly i8 includes an upper circular plate '511i disposed below `the forward end portion of the horizontal spring section 20; a headedloolt ,.55 Vpassing through aligned apertures in Said springsection and `a central aperturel in said plate; a nut :5S-engaging the projectinglower extremity of said bolt; a lower non-circular plate 62; a headed bolt 62 Apassing through aligned aperturesin the rear endlsection e601 spring i4 and an aperture 64 in the forward segment (it of said lower plate; a nut 61 engaging the projecting lower extremity of bolt t2; and a coil compression spring 68 interposed between the upper plate 54 and the rear segment lil of the lower plate 60.

AS Suggested at l2, the upper and lowermost coils of spring 63 are welded respectively to the plate 54 and the plate Se, and as shown at M in Figure 6, the axle housing A8 is recessed to aocommodate the head of bolt 62.

The forward segment 66 of the lower plate is further apertured for the passage therethrough of the legs of U-bolts 52, the extremities of which are engaged by nuts 76.

From the foregoing description augmented by an inspection of the drawing, it should be apparent that this invention provides a novel combination of spring structures adapted to attain its objectives.

By means of the front eye 28 and rear eye 26, the assembly i may be conveniently mounted on any standard automobile chassis, it being obvious that the distance obtaining between said eyes may be varied to suit chassis requirements, as should be understood.

The novel contour of upper spring I2, the inherent resiliency of linkage i5, and the cushioning effectiveness of compression spring 68 combine to provide a mutually complemental spring construction for preventing the transmittal of road shock to the body of an automotive vehicle.

It is to be understood that whereas the drawing illustrates, and the foregoing description sets forth the preferable embodiment thereof, my invention contemplates all modifications in design, and any equivalents which may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A spring construction of the character described, including an upper semi-elliptic leaf. spring and means integral therewith for mounting the rear end thereof on a chassis; a quarterelliptic lower leaf spring and means integral therewith for mounting the forward end thereof on said chassis; resilient linkage connecting the forward end portions of said upper and lower springs; a non-circular plate, means for connecting the rear end of the lower spring to an axle housing and simultaneously supporting said noncircular plate therebeneath; and a coil compression spring interposed between said upper spring and the non-circular plate aforesaid for augmenting the inherent resiliency obtaining between the upper and lower springs aforesaid,

2. A spring construction of the character described, including an upper semi-elliptic leaf spring and means integral therewith for mounting the rear end thereof on a chassis, said spring including a normally horizontal rear section merging into a quarter-elliptic forward section; a quarter-elliptic lower leaf spring and means integral therewith for mounting the forward end thereof on said chassis; resilient linkage connecting the forward end portions of said upper and lower springs; a non-circular plate, means for connecting the rear end of the lower spring to an axle housing and simultaneously supporting said non-circular plate therebeneath; and a coil compression spring interposed between said upper spring and the non-circular plate aforesaid for augmenting the inherent resiliency obtaining between the upper and lower springs aforesaid.

3. A spring construction comprising in assembly: a semi-elliptic upper leaf spring; an eye on the rear end thereof for mounting said spring on the chassis of an automotive vehicle; a quarter-elliptic lower leaf spring; an eye on the forward end thereof for mounting said lower spring on said chassis; an elongated plate and bolt means supporting said plate and the rear end of the lower spring beneath the axle housing of said vehicle; a centrally apertured circular plate and a headed bolt and nut assembly mounting said circular plate beneath a central portion of the upper leaf spring; a coil compression spring interposed between the free rearwardly projecting segment of the elongated plate and said circular plate, the upper and lowermost coils being welded respectively to said circular and said elongated plate; an eye on the forward end of the upper leaf spring; an eye intermediate the ends of the quarter-elliptic spring; and linkage resiliently connecting the last-named pair of eyes.

4. A spring assembly of the type described in combination with the chassis and axle housing of an automotive Vehicle, said assembly including: a semi-elliptic upper leaf spring having a normally horizontal rear half section merging into a downwardly curved front half section; an eye on the end of-said rear half section for mounting the upper spring on the chassis; a quarter-elliptic lower leaf spring; an eye on the forward end of the lower spring for mounting same on said chassis; an elongated plate; bolt means rigidly supporting said plate and the rear end of said lower spring beneath the axle housing; an eye on the end of said upper spring front half section, and an eye adjacent the front end of said lower spring; resiliently mounted linkage connecting the last-named pair of eyes; a centrally apertured circular plate and headed bolt and nut means mounting said plate beneath a central portion of the upper leaf spring; and a coil compression spring interposed between the circular plate and a rearwardly projecting segment of the elongated plate aforesaid.

ROBERT J. PROSKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,007,479 Nice Oct. 31, 1911 1,202,099 Randolph Oct. 24, 1916 1,330,727 Spillman Feb. 10, 1920 2,178,692 McIntyre Nov. 7, 1939 2,345,448 Best Mar. 28, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 369,273 Germany l Feb. 16, 1923 

